time will tell...the academy can suck it...and the media can kiss my ass...

on today's agenda...

1. i don't really have a lot to say on the numbers below. i'm sure i could contrive something, but i think the numbers make a statement on their own. take from it what you will...

6 min. 21 sec. - amount of time a typical half-hour local tv-news broadcast devotes to sports and weather
38 sec. - amount of time a typical half-hour local newscast devotes to u.s. foreign policy, including the war in iraq
- time (february 28, 2005)

2. on the academy awards (or the oscars...call it what you want) last night. i didn't watch them. not in protest or anything, but mostly because i don't really care. i'm not going to let a group of rich, wrinkly, cranky old men tell me what movie was good and who can or can't act. so, i went to see the movie that i thought should have won "best picture" instead of whatever the hell won (the boxing one maybe?). if you haven't seen it...go see "finding neverland." it makes "peter pan" an even better story. but, i won't waste your time telling you about it. just go see it and enjoy it.

but, back to the oscars. during my reflection on the awards show i didn't watch, i also decided that i find it more respectable to play a character that has never existed than to be somebody who has already left their mark on this world. now, i don't mean to say that i thought jamie fox did a bad job of portraying ray charles, hell...i haven't even seen the movie, so i wouldn't know. but as a general theory (which, as many people who know me are aware of, i have a lot of theories) i think it takes more skill to invent a character than to assume a pre-created one. personally, i don't really care who is the best actor or actress. i like who i like. i am my own academy. dammit.

3. finally...i want to address the michael jackson case. well, more the media around it. tonight, jon stewart (who i am sure i will fondly mention on several occasions) showed clips from various news stations reporting from the scene of the case all using the phrase "media circus." the abundance of "media self-criticism" was nuts. do they really think that by bad-mouthing themselves i'm going to trust them any more. no, i'm sorry...the thought running through my head is "christ, can you get any more self-righteous and egotistical? i don't watch the news to see you report on yourself." shit, i don't really watch the news. but, it's mostly for reasons like the one i just mentioned.

now taking from the format of a blog i'm constantly enjoying, i leave with you a quote:

"i'll take an oscar from one of the sound or light people that win and give it to him. jamie foxx is not going to walk out of that place without an oscar." - chris rock, host of this year's oscar telecast, on the star of "ray" (time, january 31, 2005)

instant gratification...

how long do you usually take to respond to e-mails? what's an appropriate length of time for somebody to wait before they return your call? how many 30-second commercials can you watch before you go stir crazy for your show? what length of time determines “too long?”

recently i've noticed how much our society...okay wait, interjection: when i say "society" or "culture" i am most likely referring to the good ol' u.s. of a. i'll let you know if that definition changes. anyway...recently i've notice how much our society longs for instant gratification. our world is so fast-paced that too long of a wait causes people to have aneurisms. let me jump in again here and make sure i let all you readers know that when i accuse society of something, i am most likely including myself in that group. i am not exempt from anything i criticize.

anyway. for example...self check-out lines. are we so impatient that we have to scan, bag, and charge all of our own items at wal-mart now? well, specifically on that topic, let me tell you something: they are not faster. with the amount of "errors" the monotone woman points yells at you, you're better off waiting in the line behind your average mom and her crying baby.

another instance...t.e.v.o. and dvdr. no more commercials! now, i am guilty of this one, so i don't have a lot of room to talk, but it still makes my point. people can't even wait 2 and a half minutes any more. here's a hint: use it as a bathroom break. get some food. grab a beer. don't like commercials? don't watch them. hell, at this point t.v. will automatically tape your favorite shows so that when you want it, you can have it. can we say spoiled??

and of course, when the internet is down? we all freak out. i see this especially at school. if people can't check their e-mail every 5 minutes (guilty again) or get their fix of second by second score updates, then what is the world coming to? god forbid we get our e-mail later or find out who won the game the next morning.

it's baffling to me how quickly we demand response from things. we get mad when our text-message turn around is 2 hours long. daily newspapers won't do any more...it's all about those 30-minute updates on cnn.com and the "breaking news" on t.v. fast food places...proud to be open until the wee hours of the morning so that they can satisfy your 2am munchies. i'm sure i could go on. but, this desire to be happy...NOW! spreads into other areas of our culture. yes, politics. just like every other mentality that sweeps our nation, this too has penetrated the white house walls. i read an article in "time" today that was entitled, "the blink presidency." joe klein (seen on the daily show a few weeks ago) claims that president bush fits perfectly into our "attention-deficit-disordered society." with his instant decision-making "skills" (or "blinks") he immediately satisfies people and makes it look like everything is hunky-dory. "His presidency has been . . . a prime example of the latest fad. Bush is the ultimate "Blink" President. . . . [His] attention span may be haphazard, but the immediate satisfactions are difficult to dispute." well...at least 51% of the people find it hard to dispute. me, on the other hand, i'm a planner when it comes to big decisions.

well, as i expected, my blog took aim at politics. my mom always told me growing up that i was going to care about politics one day. and yes mom, i'll admit it: you were right.

on peter jennings and ufo's...

alright, so this might be my official "real" blog. in other words...i had an intention of writing this blog...and put thought into it rather than using it to procrastinate on yet another project or paper. i even took notes while i was watching the show! (yah...welcome to my dorkiness.)

first, let me start off by saying that i am glad a respected journalist like peter jennings did a special on ufo's. he's given hope to people like me that maybe one day lesser-known opinions and ideas will become mainstream. that maybe, years from now, everybody's opinion will be just as respected as your average t.v. reporter and that stories about anything and everything will be printed on the front page of the sunday paper.

"I feel the same way about reporting about ufo's as I feel about reporting on Iraq," Jennings said. "The great joy we have in our business ... is the opportunity to learn new stuff every day, and to write about it." (want more where that came from? read this.)

now on to the other topic (and the subject of abc's 2-hour special): ufo's. let me start you off with some facts before i got into anything else:

1. 80 million people believe in ufo's
2. 40 million people have seen or know somebody who has seen a ufo
3. the study of ufo's is called ufolgoy
4. the fourth most popular radio show in america is by Art Bale (Bail?) and all he does is take calls of people who have just seen ufo's

onward. peter (yes, we're on a first name basis) starts off giving a brief 12 minute history of ufo's (you know, just the right timing for it to be followed by 3 minutes of nagging commercials before segueing into the next topic up for discussion). apparently in the 40's some pilots reported seeing some huge object hovering in the sky and word spread about the first ufo ever seen. and then of course hollywood got a hold of it and suddenly everyone and their pet lizard had seen a ufo. due to this fact, the air force opened a branch of service entitled "project blue book." "project blue book" was responsible for investigating all of these "sightings." (keep in mind that throughout the whole show there are clips of people talking about their personal encounters with ufo's.) so, "project blue book" investigates these thousands of cases and eventually comes to the conclusion that they are just weather balloons or search lights or crazy people from arizona. in other words (or at least in my words): they were in charge of making ufo's a national myth, rather than a national security issue.

following a few more commercials (that i got to "tevo" through), peter then goes on to question how anybody can prove, or disprove, the existence of other life forms in the universe. well, while NASA is trying to find enough scientific proof (or lack thereof) to decide either way...the scientist who was part of "project blue book" needed nothing more than the eyewitnesses. such faith this man has! on the other hand, there are those they really want proof before jumping on the bandwagon...

now this is the point in the show where i thought things got interesting. (okay, so maybe i let the conspiracy-minded, consumer-driven-society hating side of me take over a bit.) the premier company who studies outer space and the possibility of other life forms is owned by the co-founder of microsoft. so, in a way....microsoft (cough bill gates cough) is running the top ufo investigating company in the country. the day that an alien signal comes through my microsoft outlook mail program i'm going to say "i told you so."

in 1980 (two years prior to the birth of yours truly), the government cover-up theories emerged. people clung to the idea that the military was working on some huge project and wasn't telling anyone. more movies made, hysteria followed, and a tad of media frenzy was thrown in for a little spice. and what does all this create? a recipe for roswell, new mexico. all from one man's story about how he saw an alien in his field about 20 miles out of town. and now, as a result, america had found a way to market, produce, and sell "the unknown." and so followed the x-files (i believe he used the phrase "primetime mythology" when describing it) and fox's 90-something show of an alien autopsy. (oh, what would we do without fox...the "good fox," not the "bad fox.") and so following this alien craze...in 1994 the u.s. government said that the spacecraft found in roswell was just part of the "mogul project," designed to detect soviet union air craft that might have attacked. now where's the fun in that explaination?

so peter goes on now to a more serious side: abductions. you know, i tried not to think they we're crazy, but it was really hard to take some of the "abductees" seriously. regardless, it was interesting that they all claimed to have felt like they were paralyzed when they "returned." upon waking up they could only move their eyes. some claim this is a sign of abduction. as i was kindly informed by my best friend, psychologists say that this is a common sign of "sleep-paralysis." for those of you confused, it's pretty much caused by waking up mid-REM cycle. when you're in a REM cycle your body can't move, so if you wake up suddenly (often due to what are called "night terrors") this occurs. or you were abducted by aliens and you just got back to earth. take your pick. either way it's a weird thought.

anyway...that's my recount of the show. for those of you who missed it i'm sorry. now you might ask, "so am i believer now?" well, i've never seen a ufo or been abducted, but Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson said it best : ""To suggest that we're alone is inexcusably egocentric."

testing one, two, three...

alright...so here i am. entering the world of "real blogging." after spending nearly a year in "xanga therapy" and letting people watch me "grow up" through my on-line venting , i am going to start putting effort into my entries. ultimately, i'd like this site to be my more serious work. you know, the stuff i have a passion for. or the shit that pisses me off. or the things that make me happy. i've been inspired lately by other bloggers (those that i know, as well as those that i don't know) to actually work at these things...to make them worth reading. so! no longer will i ramble aimlessly without a subject. from now on i will have a purpose behind each blog. or at least make a decent attempt.

so, sit back and enjoy. use this to fill your free time at work or read it at 3 o'clock in the morning when you're too drunk to sleep. either way, fans are cool.

oh, and i should add...before you continue...i don't like capitalizing my letters. and i am rather fond of those little dots called ellipses. deal with it.